Regulator for brake rigging



March 31, 1931. w. H. SAUVAGE REGULATOR FOR BRAKE RIGGING Filed NOV. 4, 1929 IN VEN TOR.

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Patented Mar. 31 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE WELIAMHFSAUVAGE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO ROYAL RAILWAY IMPROVE- MEN-CES-CORJPORAEL'ION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ACORPORATION OF DELAWARE REGULATOR FOR BRAKE RIGGING Application filed November 4, 1929. Serial No. 404,784.

(Dneofi the'object-s of'the present invention is to provide an extremely simple and practioal formof manually actuated regulator mechanism whichmay be easily and quickly I01 applied tothe:foundation brake gear now in use without material alteration or substitution: of parts.

furtherobject is toprov-ide a strong and durable mechanism which may be easily and quickly operated to permanently take up and hold the excess travel of the brake rigging.

A further objeet istoprovi'de a mechanism ofthe above character which will positively insure" predetermined brake shoe clearance, unifornr piston travel, and uniform hand brake travel;

@ther objects will be in part obvious from the annexed drawings and in part hereinafter indicated in connection therewith by the following analysis of this invention.

Thisinvention accordingly consists in the features of construction combination of parts and in the unique relation of the members and in therelative proportioning and disposition thereof; all as more completely outlined herenr.

TO enable'others' skilledin the art to fully comprehend the underlying features thereof that" they may embody the same by the numerous' modifications in structure and relationcontemplat'ed by-thisinvention, drawings depicting a preferredi form of the invention havebeen annexedas part' of this disclosure,

and in such drawings like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughoutall of'the views, in which-- Fig. 1 illustrates diagrammatically in plan view such parts. of the complete mechanism as arenecessary to understand the invention.

Fig. 2illustrates adesirable form of pin.

Referring'now'tothe drawings in detail,

Illihdicatesan air brake cylinder "of standard construction adapted to be secured to the under: side of. the can frame. This is: provided, with the usualztelescopingipiston rod 11; pivotal'ly connected at 12 with one end of alive cylinder lever 13, the opposite end of which leveris pivotally connected at 14: with a' pull rod 15' leading to one truck brake rigging. At the opposite end of the cylinder, there is provided a duplex projecting boss or bracket 16', both" parts having aseries of registering holes 17', one set of which 18 forms a" permanent point of support and attachment for a floating leverQO, the opposite end of which lever is pivotally connected at 21 with a second pull rod 22 extending to the other truck brake rigging at the opposite end of the car.

The levers-13 and are connected by a tie rod 23 whereby as the cylinder piston moves outwardly both truck brake riggings are simultaneously actuated. It will be noted that the jawof'the piston rod 11 is provided with an additional point of connection 24, to which is secured a chain or other flexible member 25 leading to any desired form of hand brake mechanism indicated diagrammatically by the parts 26.

The cylinder levers are preferably support-- ed in any desired way, as by brackets 27 and 28; as well asbracket 30, all of which act as stops in the original installationof the mechanism. The stop 30, however, performs an additional function in that it limits the return of the piston rod 11 and definitely establishes: the location of one end of the live lever 13. The hand brake mechanism will also, ifproperly'installed, limit the; inward movement ofthe' piston and position one end of lever 13.

All of the above described parts are of" standard Well known construction and require no further'explanation with the 'eXcep-- tion that the one end of the tie rod 28 is provided with an elongated slot 31 substantially proportionalto brake'shoe clearance, the'pui pose of which will be explained in connection with the regulator.

It will be'notedparticularly that the extreme left end of the tie'rod23; whichis-preferably bifurcated to embrace both sides of thellever20; has a1 projection 32 forming a pivotalform' of support 33 for one end of an actuating; lever 34, the'opposite end of which 35 extends to one side of the car to form a handle whereby the brake rigging may be manually actuated from the side of the car without the necessity of the inspector going beneath the car frame.

hen it is necessary to actuate the brakes,

the inspector merely grasps the handle 35 andmoves the same forcibly towards the left. By reason of the leverage as shown, this movement will move the free ends of the cylinder levers relatively towards each other as permitted by slot 31, thereby to take up the normal brake shoe clearance as well as any excess travel which may exist. During this relative movement, the pin 36 passing thru the slot 31 and the floating lever 20 moves relatively towards the right along the slot 31. When all of the excess travel has been taken up, then the operator moves the handle 35 back one 01' two notches or holes, as indicated by the holes 17 in the bracket 16. Such release establishes brake shoe clearance, and a close fitting or self locking pin 37 Fig. 2, is inserted thru the registering holes 17 in the upper and lower parts of the bracket, thus properly positioning the entire foundation brake gear.

The present mechanism should of course not be confused with automatic mechanical slack adjusters of the grab all type, which have proven so unsatisfactory in commercial use, due primarily to the variations in the brake forces actuating the same, which when extreme cause relative movement of the axles and consequent loss of brake shoe clearance. With the present construction, a substantially constant or normal pressure is exerted upon the operating handle, and this is insuificient to disturb the brake rigging to the extent of causing a relative movement of the wheels towards each other or a shifting of the axles in the journal boxes, pedestals, etc., in certain types of trucks, as occurs when an emergency brake application is made.

The construction herein shown and described provides a simple and practical construction for quickly regulating all of the brakes on any type of foundation brake gear, and may be readily applied to brake rigging now in general use without material alterations and substitutions. The action is sub-- stantially instantaneous, positive and accurate, and the parts being of simple, strong, durable and reliable construction are unlikely to get out of order or adjustment.

Vithout further analysis the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting certain features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention, and therefore such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalency of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a cylinder and cylinder levers of the foundation brake gear, a tie rod connecting said levers having a lost motion take up slot and an operating lever pivotally mounted in one end of said tie rod as a fulcrum point, one end of said lever adapted to engage one of the cylinder levers for moving the cylinder levers towards each other when the opposite or free end of the operating lever is manually actuated, and a permanent take up and holding means cooperating with said operating lever.

2. In combination with a cylinder and cylinder levers of the foundation brake gear, a tie rod connecting said levers having a' lost motion take up slot and an operating lever pivotally mounted in one end of said tie rod as a fulcrum point, one end of said lever adapted to engage one of the cylinder levers for moving the cylinder levers towards each other when the opposite or free end of the operating lever is manually actuated, and a permanent take up and holding means cooperating with said operating lever, said holding means comprising a support having a plurality of holes thru which a pin is adapted to be passed to hold the lever in its newly adjusted position.

3. In combination with a cylinder and cylinder levers of the foundation brake gear, a tie rod connecting said cylinder levers intermediate their ends and having a loose pivotal connection with one of said levers, the end of said tie rod extending beyond the pivotal connection and having a second pivotal connec-' tion for an actuating lever, one end of which lever cooperates with the adjacent cylinder lever when the opposite end is operated, and permanent take up and holding means cooperating with said lever after said excess travel has been taken up.

i. In combination with a cylinder and cylinder levers of the foundation brake gear, a tie rod connecting said cylinder levers intermediate their ends and having a loose pivotal connection with one of said levers, the end of said tie rod extending beyond the pivotal connection and having a second pivotal connection for an actuating lever, one end of which lever cooperates with the adjacent cylinder lever when the opposite end is operated, and permanent take up and holding means cooperating with said lever after said excess travel has been taken up, said take up and holding means providing for brake shoe clearance.

5. In combination with a cylinder and cylinder levers of the foundation brake gear, a tie rod connecting said cylinder levers intermediate their ends and having a loose pivotal connection with one of said levers, the end of said tie rod extending beyond the pivotal connection and having a second pivotal connection for an actuating lever, one end of which lever cooperates with the adjacent cylinder lever when the opposite end is operated, and permanent take up and holding means cooperating with said lever after said excess travel has been taken up, said take up and holding means providing for brake shoe clearance, and comprising a pin and hole construction to engage said lever and its support.

Signed at New York, New York, this 30th day of October, 1929.

WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE. 

